A Holiday for Alderaan
by scottiegal2012
Summary: The Winter Holiday has arrived and with it the first snow. Tiny Princess Leia, all of three years old, is in her glory to discover the magical wonders while her family and the palace staff continue to reel over a tragic death. (sort of AU given the way the worlds keep turning)


A Holiday on Alderaan

The Winter Holiday has arrived and with it the first snow. Tiny Princess Leia, all of three years old, is in her glory to discover the magical wonders while her family and the palace staff continue to reel over a tragic death.

Disclaimer and note: Lexx, Mrs. Kurn and the extended Organa family is totally mine, the rest, of course belong to Lucasfilm 3 Special thanks to me husband for correcting my spelling and naming Marlo (for Marlo Brandon, naturally). Captain Raymus Antilles belongs to Lucasfilm, but I'd like to take credit for giving him personality in his younger years ;)

* * *

Princess Leia Organa sat quietly in her bed. It was still dark out which meant she should still be asleep. She stared toward the drawn up drape wondering if her father had been to check on her. He usually closed it when she went to sleep, but it was still open. She flopped back against the too-big pillow and pulled her blanket over her head. Everything was too big; the bed, the pillow, the nightstand- she couldn't quite reach it- and the blanket that was too stuffy when it was up. She shoved it off and sighed, sitting again. She rose up on her knees and reached with both hands for the glass there, knocking it off the stand rather than retrieving it. She stared down at the cracked glass and small pool of water that gathered around it. Tears filled her eyes and she wiped them away with her balled up fists.

"Ssh, Little One."

She felt the bed move and her father's arm pull her tight against him.

"Have mine." He whispered, setting the glass into her pudgy little hands.

She drank it down in a long swallow and handed it back to him. He easily slid it onto the nightstand ahile she watched. "Daddy? Why am I too little?"

He laughed softly. "You'll be bigger one day. Sleep a bit longer. The sun is almost up."

"Okay." She consented and curled herself up, pulling her knees up to her chin and smiling at him, tears still fresh in her eyes.

He laid the blanket over top, tucking it around her shoulders and seeming to squeeze her whole body in a little hug with his hands. "All better?"

"Yes, Sir." She grinned and yawned as her eyes drifted shut.

He dimmed her lamp further to help her stay asleep before slipping back out of the smallest palace bedroom.

* * *

 _Thwop!_

Leia jumped, quickly pulling the blanket up to leave only her eyes peaking out.

 _Thwop!_

There it was again. On her window. She threw the blanket back and kicked it until it was completely off of her and stood up, trying to see out the window and down to the ground. The light from the clear blue skies and the rising sun glaring off of the snow was too much, she couldn't see anything but white light. She jumped off the bed and tore down the hall to her father's room, socks slipping on the slick ceramic tile. She threw his door open and ran at full speed to the other side of the massive room to the big glass doors. She pulled the old brass lever and yanked the door open, the cold wind helping her as it blew into the palace.

"Leia! What are you doing?" Her father's shout from where he was now huddled in his bed was drown out.

She ran across the snowy balcony to the stone carved bench. She climbed up it and stood, leaning onto the rail. Her wide eyes searched the grounds below until she saw them. Two men off to the right below her window laughing at her and waving.

"Good morning, Princess!" The older of the two, her father's age or more, cupped his hands around his mouth as he called up to her.

The other laughed again and hurled a snowball toward her, falling pathetically short of the balcony. "Come play with us!"

"Don't go away!" She shouted back, excited by the fresh snow and friendly faces.

Her father came up behind her, having recovered from the sudden awakening. He had a heavy blanket around him and he leaned on the rail with his elbows. "Remind me to reacquaint you both with my schedule, hmm?"

"Sorry, Boss!" Raymus Antilles, chief pilot for the Royal House chuckled as he balled up a new wad of snow and hurled it, hitting Leia in the arm. He was only 22, but had already served the House for five years.

She laughed and frantically piled her own ball together with her bare fingers. She threw it and it fell apart long before it reached them. "Can I go play? Please?"

He saw the longing for some freedom in her small face and he smiled at her. "Breakfast first, than you may." He leaned with both hands gripping the cold rail and shouted at the men. "Breakfast first!"

"Scolded!" Raymus looked toward the elder man and swept his hand aside, allowing him to go up toward the palace ahead of him.

* * *

Bail Organa found his warm house shoes in the doorway, slipped them on and abandoned the blanket on a large chair near an old fireplace. He replaced it with a thick robe, cinching it snug around his waist. He closed his bedroom doors and padded down the remaining length of hallway toward the living quarters. "Mrs. Kurn."

"Good morning, Prince Bail." She cheerfully sang back as she set a steaming mug in front of him. Her gray streaked hair was up in a tight bun and she carried herself about the dining room and kitchen in her bustiling, busier than necessary way. The woman had cared for him and his sisters when they were growing up in the palace and here she was now looking after him again and this time his daughter as well.

"Captain Antilles and Lexx are headed up. Please get them something to drink." He sat where she'd placed him and leaned forward, his arms crossed in front of him on the table top. He stared down into the mug and sighed with the cooler air that hit him as the men let themselves in. A month ago he lived largely unattended, even as the head of the Royal House, but now since his wife was gone his staff practically lived there too. More for Leia than he, he knew. She still needed to be fed, bathed, readied for the partial day of classes she attended twice a week, read to, played with. He just couldn't keep up with her, work-planetary and in the Senate- and remember himself to eat and sleep. The core group of his staff simply stopped leaving at the end of the day.

The two seated themselves on the same side of the elongated table to Bail's left and Leia climbed onto a seat opposite them.

"Can we build a snow Wookiee!?" She shrieked excitedly.

"How exactly would we get his long body up onto his legs?" Raymus tipped his head at her.

"It'd be a _her_." Leia answered in a matter of fact tone.

Lexx chuckled and sputtered on his drink, raising his mug slightly to Leia. "You tell him, Princess."

Raymus rolled his eyes. "We need supplies. Nuts or something for beady little eyes..."

Leia shook her head dramatically. "Nuts are too small."

"There isn't a ton of snow out there, I don't think we can build anything too awful big."

"It can be a small Wookiee then." She took a big bite almost before the plate settled in front of her. "Thank you, Mrs. Kurn."

"Do not speak with your mouth full, Your Highness." Mrs. Kurn scolded gently.

Leia swallowed hard around the not completely chewed bite. "Sorry, Ma'am."

She paused and looked over her shoulder. "You are very welcome, Dear."

Leia's dejected face lit back up with a smile at the older woman.

Bail shook his head emphatically as Mrs. Kurn approached with another plate.

She simply nodded and placed it firmly down in front of him, holding it still with two hands to prevent him from pushing it back.

He gave in and took the fork she all but shook at him.

"Enough of this, Prince." The attitude was both final and gentle and she went back to the kitchen to prepare plates for Lexx and Raymus.

No one spoke for a long while as they ate. Even Leia finished her food, gathering the plates from everyone and helping Mrs. Kurn in the kitchen.

"Where'd she learn that cleaning thing?" Lexx teased.

"Not I." Bail shook his head and laughed softly.

Raymus stood and stretched. "You don't mind we take her to play a while?"

Bail rested against his chair back. "No, she needs the distraction."

"She doesn't get it..." Lexx ventured at the topic.

"From me." Bail clarified. He sighed and stood, positioning himself to look out a floor-to-ceiling window, resting his shoulder against the trim. He crossed his arms and spoke quieter. "She needs to not understand. She started asking questions yesterday that I don't know how to answer. Can't answer... and this time of year..." He waved absently toward the seasonal decorations that hung around the living rooms. "I don't want her dwelling on it with me."

Lexx nodded thoughtfully and strode to stand beside him. "We can surely occupy her whenever and as often as you need, Sire." He spoke in a soft tone.

"I am beyond grateful." He gave Lexx a sort of sideways smile and let his gaze follow the activity behind them.

Leia was digging for a matching glove out of a basket near the main door to the lobby area, Mrs. Kurn was searching for her other boot. Raymus was trying to decide why matching anything mattered if you were just going to play in the snow for an hour and was telling them as much.

When the little princess was finally layered and suited up, Lexx and Raymus took her by either hand and she jumped along excitedly into the fresh cold world.

* * *

"Did it get colder?" Raymus whined as they stepped out of the palace.

"Possibly, the sun has gone behind the clouds." Lexx pointed out, passing his gloves to Raymus who slid them over top of his own. "You can play, you're younger."

Raymus made a show of sticking his tongue out at Lexx and instantly regretted it as his lips felt the lingering bite of frost. "I was born on pacific south coast."

"Quit whining about it and go build your Wookiee." Lexx shoved Raymus' shoulder in Leia's direction.

The Princess had started off at a run as soon as they were off the last step of the main palace entrance. She slowed in the several inches of heavy snow, casting eager glances back before Raymus finally got the nerve to chase her.

Lexx laughed and pulled his winter cap down further over his ears, perching on a snow covered rock wall that served in warmer months as a barrier between the path and the flower beds. He cringed as some of the wet fluff rained down onto his back and made it's way under his collar to his formerly warm neck. He looked up to see the Prince up on the balcony again, this time brushing snow off the rail, deliberately onto his aide with an almost silent chuckle. "Your willingness to share is touching, Sire." He snarked upward.

Bail grinned and leaned onto the newly cleared space. He'd changed into a heavy sweater and was wearing gloves of his own as he leaned on the rail, watching Leia play.

"Should we put up the lights?"

"On the palace? I don't know. Do we have enough staff left to get it done?"

Lexx laughed. "No, you went and fired the lot of them."

"Let's skip it this year." Bail spoke reflectively.

Lexx nodded and lapsed into thought.

"Hi, Daddy!" Leia called from beside a pile of snow that Raymus dubbed the "Wookiee bottom part."

He waved back toward her.

"Do you see her?"

"I do." He yelled over a sudden cold wind.

"Oooh." Lexx's disgruntled surprise at the cold made Bail laugh.

"Getting soft, old friend?"

Lexx growled and stood, stomping in place with his hands tucked up under his armpits. "I was never fond of wind. Winter wind, summer wind, snow blown wind, hurricane wind."

"Who's whining now?" Raymus called back as he hefted a too-round ball up onto the bottom, causing the whole thing to collapse. He muttered a curse.

"Hey now." Bail called him out.

Raymus covered his mouth and stared at Leia. "Not used to her comprehension skills these days." He offered by way of apology.

"Yeah..." Bail responded skeptically.

"It may be a lame excuse, but it's an excuse, Boss." Raymus didn't make eye contact with them as he talked through the rebuilding of the she-Wookiee.

As soon as the Wookiee had some semblance of a body and head, Leia set to work on plopping in various nuts, seeds and other foods to build features. She stood back once her work was finished and commented in irritation. "No arms." Raymus stared down at her. "Ain't happenin', Princess."

"No?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Do you want hot chocolate?"

"Yes!" She screeched and jumped up and down.

He held his numb arms out and she let him pick her up. He stumbled through the snowy drifts that had started to gather as the wind picked up. Lexx had long since abandoned them for the warmth of the palace and Raymus struggled to get the bundled, overdressed toddler into the lobby and shut the door as quickly as possible.

* * *

Bail looked up from a stack of type-documents that sat on his desk. He peered over his antiquated eye glasses and noted the two rosy cheeked _kids_ as they came stumbling in. He watched Leia kick dripping boots off her feet and across the lobby floor. One nearly tripped Lexx up who was migrating between his own office and Bail's.

Raymus snickered at the move Lexx had to employ to keep from falling or dropping his files.

"Smooth." Bail commented off-handedly when Lexx finally made it into the office.

"Yes, I thought so." He chuckled his response and set a data pad beside the stack of papers. "You've a call in from Corellia. Looks like Bel Iblis' assistant, also your message to Chandrila just isn't going through. They have some sort of answering service that is backed up."

"She may not be home yet." Bail answered to the second. "I missed three subsequent sessions with my leave and I'll miss another two before I'm back."

Leia half waddled in on stiff legs and sat on the big white sofa that was positioned away from the desk. "I'm cold."

"I'm sure." Bail pushed back from the desk and rose slowly. Stretching sore muscles out as he went. "You were outside for near two hours."

"We finished her finally. She broke _three_ times."

"The bottom part is supposed to be bigger. That's why a snowman is usually all round balls." Bail explained as he sat beside her, wrapping her in a soft throw that hung over the side of the plush sofa.

"Did my Mama make this one?"

"She did. Many, many years ago."

Leia smiled and pulled it tighter around herself. "She made my extra blanket too?"

"Yes."

"I knew that."

Bail played with the fringe on the throw before deciding to go ahead and talk about it with his little girl. "When I first married Mama she was very young. So young that she still went to classes at the Academy sometimes. One day, I was away with Grandfather and when I came home she had made me this blanket. Class had been out for weeks because of a big storm and she had some time to make it."

"She was little?"

He laughed at her shock. "No... just... young."

"Like Captain Antilles?" She asked, trying to get an idea.

"Younger, but close, yes."

"It's pretty."

"It is." He closed his eyes a long moment. Remembering his still teenage bride putting it over his shoulders late at night after he'd finally come _home_.

Raymus peeked in around the corner of the big solid wood doors. "Still want some hot chocolate? Mrs. Kurn is melting it _fresh_."

"Oooh yes!" She got up on a knee and kissed Bail's cheek, running her fingers through his hair in mimic of the way her mother would have. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you, Little One." He whispered as she fled out of the office in search of the hot chocolate.

Lexx was turned halfway in his chair at the desk, watching. "You alright, Bail?" He very rarely dropped the formal titles despite their near lifelong friendship.

"I think so." He smiled at it. "I think I'm getting there."

* * *

The wind had picked up as the night drew in around them. Leia sat at the biggest window of the living room, perched with legs crossed on the wide sill, face and knee caps pressed up against the cold pane. "I think she blew over, guys."

"Captain Antilles can fix her tomorrrow." Lexx volunteered for Raymus.

"Yeah, thanks." Raymus groaned back, going up to the window to look. He held his hands on either side of his eyes to block the reflection glaring from inside lights. "It's too dark to tell."

"I could see her before." Leia was almost in tears.

"Oh no, Princess. It's okay, they don't stay forever."

Lexx eyed him over his book and emphasized his words slowly. "Tell her you'll fix it tomorrow."

Raymus' eyes pleaded for help and Bail laughed out loud from the kitchen.

"If the Captain doesn't, I will go fix her for you in the morning, Little One."

Raymus let out a relieved breath at Bail's offer.

Mrs. Kurn shooed Leia off the window sill. "To bed, Your Highness, scoot."

Leia's nightgown reached her ankles and her bare feet felt cold on the tile as she crept around the room to whisper her goodnights. She got to her father, who had found himself a cup of tea and a warm corner of sofa near the largest palace fireplace. She counted once, there were seven in the whole big building. She climbed up beside him and sat sideways, smoothing her nightgown and looking up at him.

His gaze was fixed on her.

"You look sad."

"I am, Leia."

Leia made a face back. "You miss Mama."

He smiled at her. "A whole lot, Little One."

"Me too." She kissed his cheek and patted his knee. "I'm here though and we're having a nice holiday."

He pulled her into a hug and set her gently on the floor. "I'll check on you in a while."

"Okay." She trotted off down the long hallway until her feet couldn't be heard and the faint click of her bedroom door closing was the last sound.

Bail sighed and reached for a book he'd left there days before.

A hand stopped him. "Sire, you should talk."

"Yes, Lexx... perhaps."

"You haven't given it a chance."

Mrs. Kurn spoke from a large chair across the living room from him. "And for the Princess' sake you should do this before the holiday is fully upon us."

He ran his fingers through his hair and eyed them both and then to Raymus who was working on a word puzzle of some sort at the table.

Raymus felt the eyes on him and grunted. "I _am_ listening, yes."

Bail forced a painful smile. "I _really_ don't want to this."

"Don't we know it." Raymus dropped the data pad containing the puzzle onto the table and took his glass to the opposite end of the same sofa Bail was on.

Lexx had set the book out of Bail's reach and sat on the edge of the raised hearth. "It doesn't have to be much. Just get some of it out."

Bail let his eyes fall shut and his mind wander back that month to when he last held his wife. "We've been through so much together and for so very long. It feels incredibly wrong for her not to be here."

"It is." Mrs. Kurn whispered. "They cut her life short, Prince."

"We were two months away from our thirtieth anniversary." His voice was barely audible.

"I remember your wedding day so well... thirty..." Lexx mulled it over out loud, knowing that the sort of back and forth would help his friend.

Bail sighed and opened his eyes. "When I put in for extended leave, they wanted it in person. Mas Amedda _laughed_ when he reviewed it before finally approving it."

"Do you have any doubt that they sanctioned this?" Mrs. Kurn looked partly horrified, even though the idea of murder had been played with before among their particular group. Briefly, but still mentioned.

"No." He was blunt.

Raymus choked on the sip he had started to take and sputtered for some time before recovering and finding them all watching him. "Sorry."

Bail turned his attention back to Mrs. Kurn. "No, it was so sudden and drastic and followed so closely behind _concern_ from Palpatine for my own well-being that it's my _only_ conclusion."

"Nothing medical backed that though?" Raymus asked, still hoarse from the burning liquid in his throat.

Bail shook his head and eyed the pilot. "Any drug or poison would have been out of her system by the time we got her to the medical center. Nothing was found, no cause at all, actually. Everything shut down simultaneously."

"That's not normal." Raymus mused.

Bail swallowed some of his tea and set the mug down. "48 years old, perfect health, ran every single day, ate a strict diet... no, I have no doubt." He finished the last thought with his attention back on Mrs. Kurn who was shaking her own head sadly. He stood and brought his mug to the kitchen sink, setting it gently down in and looking back over at the band of faithful staff who outlasted the purge of employees. He had fired everyone else. An unnecessarily expansive group from landscapers to pool boys. He had little delusion about how easily Palpatine's people could get to Leia, but the idea of the person who killed his wife being in their home had made him so ill that he got rid of them all.

"I am going to bed." Mrs. Kurn sounded queasy as she rose. "Will your sisters be here for the big dinner tomorrow? They're the only ones I've not heard back from."

Bail shrugged. "I don't see why they wouldn't be, but I can check with them both in the morning if you'd like."

"Please, Prince Bail, if you don't mind. I'll bid the three of you gentlemen a restful evening." She hurried out the room and off for the staff quarters on the opposite end of the palace.

"That was sudden." Raymus remarked from the sofa.

Bail returned to his spot and cleared his throat before speaking. "She was always a little bit emotional about... everything." He chuckled slightly. "I remember when my mother told her she was carrying my youngest sister. It _was_ something of a shock given I was already more or less grown, but Mrs. Kurn sobbed like someone had died."

Raymus marveled at this a moment before eyeing both older men. "Do all women turn out like that?"

Both Bail and Lexx laughed out loud.

Lexx smirked. " _All_ of the women I know have, yes."

"I'm not going to look forward to that should I ever marry." His voice took on a dizzied sing-song tone.

Bail tipped far enough to the side to reach Raymus' arm and pat it. "You'll have your own changes to worry about before that happens, Antilles."

Raymus' concerned features deepened to which Lexx continued to chuckle.

* * *

Leia snuck out of her bed, creeping to the doorway. She could hear their voices still. The men and her father. She tiptoed as slowly as she could manage down the hallway, stopping short of her father's bedroom. His table light was on. She peered around the corner to see him and Lexx in there, not the living room like she thought. She listened for a long moment before stepping all the way into the doorway opening. They still didn't see her.

Lexx was sitting on the edge of the big bed, her father was sitting on the dresser, the palms of his hands gripping it, leaning forward and talking quietly. He looked tired, but he smiled every once in a while.

After it had been too long for Leia to stand still, she made a little coughing sound and than quickly ran off down the hall, her tiny feet slapping the tile. She crawled into her bed and hid under the covers.

Bail stared at the empty space in the door and threw a crooked smirk at Lexx. "What do you suppose..?"

Lexx shook his head slowly. "I am _not_ a father and would _not_ try to even guess, Sire."

Bail laughed softly and let his body ease slowly off the dresser until his feet hit the floor. "Oh, too old for this."

"Chasing babies or climbing on furniture?"

Bail smacked Lexx's arm with the back of his hand when he passed, chuckling softly as his shadow disappeared. He turned Leia's light on and pulled the blankets back enough to see her face. "What happened?"

"I thought I would get in trouble for listening." She mumbled.

"The longer you stand there not saying anything, the more likely that is." He spoke firmly before softening again. "But just because you come to me after you're to be asleep does not always mean you'll be in trouble."

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "But you were with Lexx."

"Yes, I was, and we were discussing private matters. The right thing to do would have been to knock or call out to me right away so I know you're there."

She thought about it for a moment and blew out a long breath. "I can't sleep."

"Close your eyes and try."

"I have been. I kept hearing you all talking and talking and talking and couldn't sleep." She pursed her lips into a pout.

He smiled softly. "Alright, we're done."

"Can I sleep with you?"

"No." He answered softly.

"Okay." She looked sad.

He tucked the blanket under her chin and whispered some lines from her favorite story before sighing. "Sometimes I need my _own_ bed."

She smiled up at him. "Unless I have a bad dream."

"Right." He answered hesitantly, expecting that to be the next occurance.

"Or if you do." She offered with a bigger grin.

"Okay, _sleep_." He spoke firmly this time. "I'll be quiet."

"I love you, my Daddy."

"I love _you,_ my Little One."

* * *

Bail rolled over to feel a limb dig into his back. He quickly rolled off, fearing he had squished his tiny daughter, but she didn't flinch. He thought back, trying to remember her coming in, but he must have stayed asleep whenever she had. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. It wasn't particularly early, but the morning light was faint due to the lingering storm. He slid his shoes on, finding his robe and cinching it. The routine becoming moreso as his long leave drug on. He had requested three months. He wouldn't be able to take leave of his on-world duties or the larger part of his parental ones, but at least he could take a break from the charade on Coruscant and replace that time with grieving her and then getting on with his life. He shuffled across the room and out to the living room. Raymus hadn't made it back to his quarters, but was instead passed out across the sofa. Mrs. Kurn looked like she'd been in with fresh groceries and gone again, a handwritten note for him left at the table.

Good Morning, Prince.  
I contacted your sisters this morning myself, no need for you to.  
They will be here as you expected. I am picking up gifts as well, I  
suspect you did not want to go into town. I have a commlink on me  
if you need to reach me for anything. If there is something specific you  
would like for me to pick up, please let me know promptly.

Best,  
Adiellia Kurn

Bail read the note sideways as he poured a mug full from the kettle. It was still warm sitting on the hot plate at the table. He shook his head and slid the note back away, picking up his own commlink piece from the center of the table. He keyed it to her frequency. "Mrs. Kurn?"

"Good morning, Prince! Did you sleep well?" The voice sang back over weird static from the wind.

"Well enough." He paused to wonder if she ever did. "I have a gift for Leia and Rennie, but nothing for Alaina. I couldn't find something when I was on Coruscant waiting to hear back from the Chancel- _Emperor_ 's office."

"I'll find something... shiny."

Bail laughed at her response. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"I'll be back within the hour. I need you to start up the fires in the common rooms, please."

He smiled at the commlink. The woman had often been more a mother than his _mother_ was. "I'll get on it." He set the commlink down and drank back a burning hot and long swallow of the comforting liquid. He let the numbness from the extreme heat tingle a moment before breathing cool air in behind it. "Captain." He spoke loud enough to get the man to stir.

Raymus rolled completely over and opened his eyes, staring blankly up at the vaulted ceiling. He studied it a long moment, eyes focusing and adjusting as he contemplated it.

"The living room." Bail supplied after a while.

"Oh..." Raymus drew it out as he sat slowly up and rubbed his temple.

"What was _in_ your glass last night?"

"It wasn't _what_ , Boss, but how many." Raymus stood and gasped, doubling over with the splitting headache of far too many strong drinks.

Bail grunted a knowing response. "I remember those days. Let me show you how my father cured a good hangover." He grabbed Raymus by the shoulder and escorted him out the door, fishing up two pairs of gloves as they passed the basket.

Raymus coughed and wheezed with the cold air that hit them outside of the palace and stumbled to follow Bail down the steps. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe." Bail responded, pulling on the gloves and running his fingers over the wall, knocking fresh blown snow off of it. The sun was finally peeking through the overcast grays and Bail had _always_ enjoyed such winter mornings. He smiled to himself as he breathed it in, noting neither he nor Antilles had a coat or really more than thin sweaters to protect them from the tail end of the storm. He gathered a few pieces of wood up and dropped them into the waiting arms of his suddenly sobered pilot, who had one eye closed against the wind, the other on him.

"Why did you have to fire everyone?" Raymus whimpered as Bail layed out a few more pieces in his arms and turned him around, gently nudging him back toward the palace.

He gathered an armful of his own and whistled their way back up the path. They returned to the palace and dropped the stacks beside the smoldering main fireplace.

Raymus eyed Bail cautiously as they headed back out the door. "Your father was _this_ harsh?"

"This isn't _harsh_."

"I come from a politically aristocratic family... a long line of _thinkers_ not _movers_... and your bloodline is pure _royalty_ , Sir. Pardon me, but why for the love of all things are we doing physical labor? Our _selves_!?"

Bail laughed out loud and threw a dramatic accent on his words. "Okay, so let's pretend for a moment neither of us grew up in entitled, self-important roles and families, shall we? Mm, good. Okay, does this look harsh to a _farmer_ or a _miner_?"

Raymus mulled over it while Bail settled another stack of logs on to his now aching and cold arms.

"Well?" Bail prodded.

"No." Raymus felt a little silly whining about it. "In my defense, this is decidedly _not_ a normal task for me."

Bail smirked. "Time to grow up."

Raymus muttered as he turned around and headed up the path with no push necessary this time.

Bail strolled further down the path and stood there, surveying the property. The wind had taken quite a few branches down, one hung heavily from a cracked limb over the path itself. He watched the tree list in the calming winds before the loud crack suddenly brought the limb all the way down. He jumped with the sound and scolded himself silently for being so on edge.

Raymus had returned and was watching when Bail turned back around. "More?" He asked, his voice high.

"One more. If the temperatures drop much farther the logs will ice together, we won't have the fireplaces going."

"We have more modern versions of heat..."

Bail met him at the pile again. "But not more cozy versions." He countered.

Raymus looked disgruntled as he dutifully held his arms out for another load.

Bail stacked them higher this time and leaned around it to catch Antilles eye. "I will hire replacements, I just couldn't keep them after..."

He winced at the thought, knowing what Bail was getting at. "Growing up." He changed the subject back.

"I also need you to be ready for whatever might come our way in the galaxy... the future _Empire_."

Raymus swore his Boss stuck out his tongue, but no evidence of such a thing remained so he dismissed the idea.

They finished the last stacks in silence, and finally settled down at the table with fresh mugs as the fire in the main living room slowly melted away the wet tendrils of icicle on the new logs.

Lexx arrived shortly after they had sat, a box of lights and glittering crystal snowflakes in his arms. "If the weather has abated I thought perhaps the Princess would enjoy helping me at least decorate the entrance."

Bail nodded thoughtfully. "I have no doubt she would, better weather or no. There's also a large limb down in the path if you can help me with that before anyone is expected to arrive."

"We should call someone." Lexx suggested slowly.

"Not on the holiday, Lexx. We can take care of it in less than an hour."

"You're right, yes." He set the box down and they all started at Leia's shrieks.

Bail jumped up and was down the hallway and into his room before either of the others had left their chairs.

Leia was standing up on the headboard of the large bed and pointing toward a small rodent that was sitting nestled in the comforters. "What is it?"

Bail scooped the frightened creature up and cupped it in his hands, trying not to laugh at his terrified little girl.

"Come in off the wood?" Raymus wondered over his shoulder at the tiny thing with bugged out eyes.

Lexx lifted Leia carefully off the headboard and sat her on the edge of the bed. "They're harmless, Princess."

"He scared me. I opened my eyes and it was just _looking_ at me."

"You're father did that to me this morning." Raymus muttered in sympathy.

Leia looked up at him curiously and Bail bent slightly at the waist, holding his cupped hands out.

"Do you want to see it?"

She nodded and craned her neck while he opened his hands up.

"He _is_ kinda cute."

Bail nodded. "I'm going to bring him back out to the wood pile, okay?"

"I want to keep him." Leia protested quietly.

Bail eyed her and beckoned with a tip of his head for her to follow.

She slid down obediently, dragging her feet along the floor.

Lexx and Raymus followed behind as well, all of them stopping in the lobby as Bail continued out to the wood pile, setting the creature down to scamper into the stack and disappear.

"But why can't I have him?"

"He might have a home and a family, Little One." Bail stepped back up, closing the doors behind them.

"Oh." She whispered softly. "Like us?"

Bail nodded, lifting her up and carrying her back to the table.

* * *

"Mrs. Kurn, what's this?" Leia sat on the high stool at the central counter space in the kitchen, reaching for the fancy dish.

"It's for butter, dear Princess."

"Oh." Leia decided this was boring, but she again reached for the next pretty dish. "This one?"

"Gravy."

"Oh." She set it down. She spotted something just out of her reach that was the prettiest one. "What's that?"

"A chalice." Mrs. Kurn paused. "It's not part of the holiday serveware, though." She picked it up and turned it in her hands gingerly. "It was the glass your parents drank from when they married."

"From the same one?" Leia looked slightly horrified at the idea. "They couldn't get their own cups even for a wedding?"

Mrs. Kurn opened her mouth to explain, but changed her mind, waving her off with a hand. "Go on and see if you can find your holiday dress, Princess."

"Will you do my hair nice?" She climbed down, still looking up at the _chalice_.

"I think you should let your father do it, now go on."

Leia passed her father as he was coming in with Lexx from cutting up the tree limb. "Daddy, you couldn't have your _own_ cup for your wedding?"

Bail watched her continue down the hallway, not having waited for an answer. His head was tipped and his face had a confused expression.

"Mrs. Kurn..?" Bail leaned around the kitchen opening, not quite wanting to venture into her domain on this particular afternoon.

"I didn't bother to explain it." She'd obviously heard Leia's remarks to him.

Bail stood a moment longer before Mrs. Kurn approached him and rested the chalice in his cold hands. "Oh." He whispered.

"It was with the holiday things."

Bail looked down at it, rather small and simple, but with gold trimmed lettering in an old script across the center. "Breha liked to get it out for the holidays... I had forgotten she even packed it in the same boxes."

Mrs. Kurn stopped short and turned to him, tears beginning. "I haven't heard you speak her name all these weeks."

"It hurts." He barely whispered, squeezing his eyes shut through the physical pain in his chest at the thoughts.

"I know it does."

He took a shaky breath, holding the chalice back out to her with trembling hands.

She took it quickly and nestled it into a small case with paper tucked around it. "Where would you like me to put it?"  
"I don't know, I just don't... want to drop it." He smiled slightly, the tears stopped for the moment.

She nodded understandingly. "The Princess went to get ready, perhaps she'll need help?"

He turned without saying anything more and headed off after Leia.

The lights on the outside of the palace sparkled and shone through the newly blowing wind. Lexx had managed to get several strands of tiny white lighting out on either side of the entrance and Leia had helped by "holding" the ladder and "centering" things for him. The snowflakes dangled in the massive marble trimmed portico from unseen hooks, blowing gently in the sheltered space. The lamposts that dotted the grounds and around toward the hangars and the ponds brightly glowed lighting the snowy hills and dips of the landscape around the palace itself.

* * *

Bail stood in the living room, with it's high ceilings and crackling fireplace, hands clasped behind his back, staring out the dark window. He couldn't see much beyond the reflections of lights and shadows behind him, but he stared anyway. He decided much too late that he wasn't ready to have people in his home. Even if those people were all family. He found himself unclasping his hands, playing with his tunic and again pulling them together behind his back. He felt like a nervous young politician on his first day in a council setting rather than a 56 year old father, son and brother in his own house. He could hear the door opening and closing, familiar voices echoing behind him, his mother praising Mrs. Kurn's cooking-the smells alone would dictate the perfection to be eaten. Everyone was telling Leia how beautiful her holiday gown was. He could hear his in-laws talking to his father, his sisters and Breha's sister re-introducing their respective spouses and children.

"Leia said you did her hair." The woman's voice beside him was gentle, complimenting, perhaps even an edge of teasing. He had woven a gemstone dotted band into the braid that ended just above the middle of her back.

"Hello, Renita." He spoke after a long moment.

"Oh, pshh."

"Rennie." He ammended fondly, slipping his arm around his youngest sister and holding her tight against his side for a long moment. The age difference between them always gave him pause, more so now that she was pregnant with her third child. "How's the baby?"

"Over-cooked." She laughed and rubbed her stomach, eyeing the size of it dubiously. "I'm done with this carry and birth thing." She slid her arm behind him, firmly gripping his waist.

He looked down at her and found her smiling up at him.

"You okay?"

"No." He sighed. "Working on it though."

"Better than nothing." She pulled a little tighter against him before loosening her grip. "Come be with your family. We love you, you know?"

"I know." He let her go completely and straighted his tunic again, following her over to where everyone had filtered in and found places around the fire.

The younger cousins had chased Leia down to her room while the couple of older ones stayed with the adults.

Bail found himself settling in beside his stern and unyielding father-in-law. The man had intimidated Bail from the moment he met him and it had very little to do with asking his permission to court a teenage girl when he himself was already a high honor graduate of an expansive university program. The fear was compounded when the man questioned Bail's previous _experiences_ with women... something that was less than private in the rambunctious Prince's life. He wasn't sure now though if he should be offering condolences to his father-in-law or not, but he was saved by his mother-in-law's conversation.

"She is becoming so beautiful."

"Thank you, she is." Bail breathed out slowly. "She is such a _boy_ though."

She laughed softly. "Oh, that's okay. Many little girls _are_."

He nodded thinking about his nieces on both sides trying desperately to keep up with their brothers and male cousins. "Are you well, Hilda?"

She tipped her head to the side and watched him. "Should I be asking you?"

"I don't even know." He smirked slightly.

"We can leave it at that?"

He nodded. "Yes, let's." He spotted the other of his two sisters and excused himself from the awkward conversation. "Alaina."

She smiled at him around a bite of some appetizer she'd found at the table and pointed to the chair.

He sat and she joined him in the one just beside it. "Hey."

She swallowed and grinned. "Well hello. You've been elusive all year."

"I know." He held his hands out guiltily.

"What's been going on?"

"Everything." He ventured. "Trying to get a handle on our roles in the _Empire_."

"Goodbye politics as usual?" She muttered more than asked.

"Something like that. It took me away from home most of the summer."

"Ugh." She reached for a glass and the wine bottle beside it and poured him the smallest bit, following that with a larger glass for herself. "My favorite."

"I know." He grimaced as she clinked her glass to his.

"Love you, my big brother."

"I love you too, Alaina." He whispered before downing what little bit she'd put in it and making a face. "Can you drink to something positive if you don't like the _drink_?"

She chuckled and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't care these days. You know... I live right over there." She pointed out the window toward the distant lights of Alder City. "Right. There."

He hadn't taken his eyes off of her. "Closer than it seems, hmm?"

"Mmmhmm." She was looking into his eyes. "I want to see you. I want you to come to visit us. I want to come and help you. Please, let me in."

"It's not that I'm keeping you out..."

"Uh sure." She stood and leaned to kiss the top of his head. "No excuses. You need us, as soon as you accept it, let me know."

He watched her waltz off, her glass sitting there beside him, the wine bottle having gone with her. He shook his head and started to get up when firm hands grasped his shoulders. He reached up with one of his own to grip whomever had him. The large signet ring he found told him it was his father before the touch was completely processed. They stayed like that in silence for a long time before Bail leaned to the side to look up at his father. "Sir?" He whispered, years of subservient behavior not easily changed even into adulthood.

"Your mother... she says 'Marlo, go check on your son'."

Bail eyed his mother sideways across the room. She was watching them silently from the sofa. "That makes sense."

The elder Organa sighed and set himself down beside his son. "Is the Princess enjoying the holidays?"

Bail bit back an unnecessary response to his attitude toward an _adopted_ granddaughter. They'd had this fight before... repeatedly. "She is. She spent time playing in the snow yesterday with Captain Antilles." Bail was certain a slight smile played at the corner of his father's mouth and he studied him closely.

"You know for twenty-five years, I had three children do such things on these very grounds."

Bail fought his own smile at the reminiscing. "I recall."

"Snowmen... snow... _angels?"_

Bail nodded a confirmation, not providing a description of what a snow angel would be. The silence that followed was almost painful and he kept his eyes just off of his father, staring at a vacant spot beyond him. He adjusted his focus after a bit to see Marlo staring straight at him and inhaled slowly. "Did you watch us play as children?"

The nodded response surprised him and they held each other's gaze.

After another long moment Bail looked at the table in front of them and sighed, speaking softly, hesitantly. "I didn't realize you gave us any of your attention whatsoever."

"Of course I did." Marlo was speaking equally as soft. "My distance was not a lack of interest."

Bail looked back up. "I didn't think you cared one way or another what we did or what happened to us."

His father looked almost hurt. "No..."

Leia bounced up and stood between their chairs. "Can I have a treat?"

Bail turned his full gaze on her and pulled her onto his lap. "We'll be eating in a little while, you can wait."

"Oh okay. Hello, Grandfather."

"Hello." Marlo's response was almost absent.

Bail unbraided Leia's hair and twisted it up instead, getting all of the stray pieces that had come loose from her roughhousing with the cousins. He was watching his father out of the corner of his eye while he finished tying it back with the gemmed band. He kissed her cheek gently and scooted her off his lap, nudging her back in the general direction of the din.

She went without question, picking up speed halfway down to her room and disappearing in.

He turned sideways in the chair, resting his arm on the back of it. "I didn't mean to offend you, Sir." He offered slowly.

His father was shaking his head before it was completely out. He didn't speak, but stood slowly and let his gaze fall on the eldest of his children. "I don't know what to say."

Bail stood, matching his father's height, but feeling significantly more tired and worn than the elder ever had. "I could have used your advice and guidance."

"I walked you through all of this." He waved his hand to indicate the palace, and the position Bail was in as Alderaan's royal head.

Bail shook his head sadly. "I mean as a father to his son, about family and life."

"Your mother was better at such things." He muttered.

Bail let his breath out in a shaky, slow way. "And the girls did well for her grace at it."

His father let his head fall slightly. "Perhaps I neglected this particular responsibility."

Bail's breath caught at that.

Marlo looked up at him and reached out, hesitant to touch him. "I have no excuse for it."

"I'm not asking for one." Bail managed quietly.

"The meal is ready!" Mrs. Kurn's voice rang out from the kitchen where she was pulling a large roast out.

Both men stood staring at each other as the rest of the family gathered around the large banquet table, calling out seats and causing general chaos.

Bail took a few steps back and let his eyes track the faces of the people he'd cared most about through his life, including Lexx and Antilles who fit in fairly well themselves. He set himself down on the sofa and closed his eyes, listening to the overlapping voices and the shouting children. He allowed himself time to picture Breha there with them, she would have a bright colored slimming dress on that ended above the knee, high boots that were plain in style and her long hair would be pinned back on only one side. She would have spent most of the evening in the kitchen-the place Mrs. Kurn now occupied instead. If ever he found himself alone in the midst of a crowd he could always count on her to be beside him soon after. On a night like this she might have draped a shawl or throw over his shoulders, ask him if he wanted something hot to drink, kiss him sweetly and be sure he was okay before going back to her guests. She would pointedly look over to him throughout the night, being sure he knew she was there for him. He badly needed to open his eyes and see her and he fought the temptation to look. It didn't seem to be getting any easier to not expect her to be in the room.

The sofa creaked slightly beside him as someone sat down beside him. When the person didn't speak he turned his head and opened his eyes, squinting in the bright firelight. They'd been closed longer than he thought.

Lexx was leaning back against the cushions, one leg crossed over his knee, watching the group.

Bail smiled softly and returned his gaze to them as well. "Thanks." He spoke quietly.

Lexx acknowledged with a slight sound, knowing him better than Bail knew himself.

* * *

The night wore on and the fire had dwindled to bright glowing coals. Bail hadn't moved since the meal and now others had returned to the living room.

Rennie knelt on the floor next to the side of the sofa and put both hands on his arm. "Do you mind if I get the children and have them open their gifts?"

"I'm sorry, Rennie... I'm not being a particularly good host." His laugh was pained and he smiled gently at her. "If you don't mind."

"Ssh, of course not. Please don't apologize, Bail." Her eyes sparkled as they reflected the lights.

He felt the warmth and love there and he smiled at his sister. "Please, go on and get them."

She used his knee to push herself up off the floor and laughed with how silly she felt.

He had a hold of her hand, gripping tightly to help her and he chuckled as she reached her feet. "Good?"

"Eh." She smirked and held one hand against her back, heading down the hallway and calling out her children, nieces and nephews by name as she went.

Children, wrappings and ribbons became confused blurs for the next hour, letting Bail slip out in the midst of the mayhem. He crept down the hall to his bedroom where he'd left Leia's gift. He pulled the box out of the top drawer of his dresser and held it tight for a long moment. He'd wanted to get her something like this, but she was too young the previous year. He ran his fingers over the shiny red wrappings and the silver ribbon curled at the top. It was pretty, perfect colors for a bright eyed three year old. He mused over the irony that she'd likely be more excited by the paper and ribbon than the gift itself. between his two sisters' children, he'd learned that much about toddlers at least, many years ago. He turned to see his father standing in the doorway. "Mother again?"

"No..." Marlo's smile was practiced, a diplomatic form he'd learned long before Bail was a thought in his world.

Bail moved his hand slightly, indicating the gift. "I left Leia's in here..."

Marlo nodded, watching his son, unsure how to interact with him, let alone be there _for_ him.

Bail took a step forward and held his hand out, whispering to keep his voice from breaking. "I could really use a father right now."

The guilt the elder felt at Bail making the first move threatened to overwhelm him. He took Bail's hand in his and held his gaze for a long moment before awkwardly putting his other arm around his son.

Bail's gasp was audible and he let his father pull him near.

"I don't think I can _be_ anything but what I am."

"Just be, Father." He managed. "Please."

Marlo relaxed his grip and leaned away from his son, seeing the pain in his eyes. "That I think I can do."

Bail let his mouth form a crooked smile and he looked back down at the gift. "We should-"

"Yes." Marlo stepped to the side and let Bail leave ahead of him.

Bail returned to the living rooms just as the last of the gifts had been swapped and opened. He cleared his throat. "Leia." It came out strangely stern and she hurried over like she'd been in trouble.

"Yes, Daddy?"

He forced his features to relax, sitting on the floor in the center of the room, his legs crossed and the box resting on his lap. He smiled at her. "Happy holiday, Little One."

She held her hands out, almost shyly.

He rested the gift in them.

She plopped down, her dress encircling her on the floor as she took one end of the ribbon, untying it in the single pull. She tore the paper with fingers of both hands and smiled at the pretty box inside. She lifted the music box up out of the wrappings and played with the hinge, flipping it open to hear an old recording of a famous Alderaanian children's lyric. When it ended, she closed the box and opened it again to hear it replay. Her eyes were focused on the box, a hunt of smile on her lips as she listened to it over several times.

"Do you like it?" He asked finally.

She lifted her eyes up to look at him, the full smile taking hold. "It's mine?"

He laughed softly. "Yes, Little One. Just for you."

"I _love_ it." She put it on the floor and rose up on her knees, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "I made you something special, don't go away." She poked his nose with the last words and ran down the hallway. Her return steps were much slower, soft shoes tapping their way back.

He had remained on the floor and watched her bouncing back holding a little paper bag.

"Close your eyes." She instructed, almost motherly.

He dutifully obeyed.

"Hold out your hands."

He smirked and held his hands out.

Her tongue was out sideways between her teeth as she fished into the bag. She set the item in his hands gingerly and dropped the bag, spreading her arms wide. "Okay, look!"

He opened his eyes. In his hands was a small frame made of sticks that she'd painstakingly colored, completely coating them with her pastels. They were tied together, clearly with some help and a small stand was fixed to the back to stand it upright. In it was a picture. Leia, on the beach in a bright yellow summer dress, tiny white flowers braided into her hair, sitting on her mother's lap. Breha was in a long white sleeveless dress that had blue flowers embroidered along the collar. She had a big straw hat on that tipped to the side, letting the sun highlight her face completely. They were both in tears from laughing at something off camera. Bail had taken the image on their only trip that summer before. His hands trembled a bit, and he blinked back tears. He looked up at Leia's proud smile. "It's beautiful, baby."

"I had just a little bit of help. The glue wasn't working." She glanced back at Lexx, who looked uncomfortable.

"She got the idea when we were at an art gallery last week." He managed softly.

Bail smiled at Leia. "Where should I keep it?"

"Next to your bed." She answered quietly. "So you're not sad at night anymore."

Everyone in the room had lapsed in to silence, watching the father and daughter.

He nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Thank you, my Little One."

She smiled back, her own tears dripping down her cheeks. "Did I make you sad?"

He set the frame down, pulling her onto his lap and holding her head against his chest. He rested his chin on her head and breathed the smell of her hair in. "A happy kind of sad." He tried.

"Those are opposites, Daddy, I learned that in class."

He chuckled, his eyes closed as he stroked her hair and rocked her slowly. "It's hard to explain, but I love my beautiful gift, my sweet little girl."

* * *

Lexx tossed a small log onto the flickering embers, showering sparks across the hearth. The glow dimmed for a moment before the flames licked up the sides of the log, catching quickly on the fresh piece.

Bail came back from the lobby, crossing his arms and rubbing them a bit. "It's getting bitter out there."

"Welcome to Alderaan in winter." Lexx mumbled. "You know, it's becoming a lot harder to cope with these temperatures as I get older."

"Don't tell Antilles." Bail muttered back. He draped a throw over Leia. Her tiny body was curled up in the corner of the sofa where he usually sat. The music box was beside her, open from the last round of the recording. "We'll have to refresh the track before long."

Lexx laughed. "It was easy to program, Sire."

Bail eased down onto the chair opposite the sofa and sighed heavily. "That was... a lot so soon."

Lexx nodded thoughtfully. "It went well, though."

"Yes..." He worked over the word.

"I fought her on giving you the picture tonight, with everyone here." Lexx spoke softly.

Bail smiled over at him. "It's okay, really, something was bound to hit me... may as well have been Leia."

Lexx stared absently at the fire before shifting his attention toward the sleeping Princess. "You have quite the road ahead of you two."

"Good thing we have the support we do around us."

Lexx turned to face him. "And you always will. Both in service and friendship."

Bail remained quiet for a while longer before rising and joining Lexx at the fireplace. "It's always meant a good deal to me to have you beside me through my career, but your friendship... I wouldn't have gotten through losing her without you."

Lexx remained quiet as he watched Bail in the firelight.

The fire crackled and the flames completely engulfed the log.


End file.
